Australia cricket veteran Usman Khawaja has announced his retirement from Test cricket.
The 39-year-old will play his final Test in the fifth Ashes Test against England commencing on Sunday.
Khawaja played 87 Tests for his adopted nation after being born in Pakistan, plundering 6,206 runs at an average of 43.39 with 16 centuries and 28 fifties.
“I’m here to announce today that I will be retiring from all international cricket after the SCG test match,” Khawaja said at a press conference.
“God through cricket has given me far more than I could have imagine. He’s given me memories I’ll carry forever, friendship that goes well beyond the game, and lessons that shaped me, who I am, off the field.
“But no career belongs to one person. I obviously had a lot of help. To my parents, who are over there, thank you for your sacrifices that never made the highlights reel.”
It's fitting Khawaja will end his career in Sydney after moving to the city from Pakistan as a child and making his first Ashes century at the SCG in 2018.
“Funnily enough, I live just up the road from the SCG,” he said.
“And I’ll never forget when I was younger, I saw Michael Slater drive in his red Ferrari. I couldn’t believe my luck. I just saw a Test cricketer. And as a boy, whose parents were barely scraping through in trying to provide for their kids in a little two-bedroom apartment, I thought, ‘One day, I’m going to be a Test cricketer and one day I can drive whatever I want.’”